Bloodpact
by bluefoxredfox
Summary: Gellert Grindelwald and Albus Dumbledore have always had a complicated relationship - but what did that look like? Was it love? Was it fear? Was it loneliness?


Albus Dumbledore sat in his room at the Leaky Cauldron, quietly contemplating his life for what seemed the millionth time. He'd left his brother behind...at this point, that fence could not so easily be mended. His mother and sister...dead. Gellert...gone. He sighed audibly, the small empty room making the sound seem just as small and empty.

The sudden noise of an angry owl rapping away at the glass of the minuscule window that overlooked the street made him jump, jolting him out of his revery. Irritated at his brooding having been interrupted, he trudged over to the circle-shaped glass and opened it. The owl swooped in immediately, attempting to escape the cold, December air. It had been over a year since Godric's Hollow, where his brother had cursed him in the dingy hallway of their childhood home and a small spark of hope flickered within him at the sight of a small envelope tied to the owl's leg. He reached for the letter and the owl nipped at his fingers, evidently expecting a reward for having braved the winter to bring him his mail.

"I don't know what you want from me," said Albus, "this isn't exactly an owelry." The owl hooted at him angrily, flapping its wings in his direction.

At a loss for what to do, he grabbed his wand and pointed it at the creature, "Sorry about this," he said, "Petrificus Totalus."

The bird immediately froze on the small desk and, before it could fall to the floor, Albus gently caught it and lay it on the ugly duvet of his bed.

"I'll have you on your way shortly," he said to the bird, "now, what do we have here?"

Untying the envelope from its leg, he looked for a name but saw it was blank. Curiosity growing steadily inside him, he opened the envelope and unfolded the small piece of parchment inside it. As his eyes took in the small triangular symbol in the middle of the paper, he froze.

He looked over the frozen bird and made a split-second decision. Hastily, he grabbed a nearby quill and ink and wrote under the symbol, in large splotchy letters, "NO."

Sealing the parchment within the same envelope and tying it to the owl's leg, he muttered a quick enchantment meant to keep the bird's feathers warm during the blizzard. _Leave it to that idiot to leave the poor thing to freeze to death_, he thought. Almost angrily, he thrust the small window open and pointed his wand at the bird.

"Finite," he said, and the creature immediately reanimated in his hands just as he threw it out the window and closed it. It occurred to him briefly he hadn't told the owl where to deliver the letter, _one way or another he'll get the message_, he thought.

Then, the tears came.

...…………...

It was around 3:00AM when Gellert Grindelwald apparated into Albus Dumbledore's room at the Leaky Cauldron. He'd tried a silencing charm on himself but was unsure if it had worked, though from what he could tell from the dim moonlight streaming in from the sole window in the room, Albus was still asleep.

He chuckled to himself, he always was a heavy sleeper, he thought. For a moment he simply stood where he was, letting his eyes adjust to the darkness and watching the beautiful boy before him sleep, his chest rising and falling with every breath.

Gellert wasn't sure what he was doing. He'd found Albus thanks to a combination of questionable interrogation techniques and bribery - the oldest form of magic, he'd always said. He did not think Albus was hiding, granted, but he could not be sure the other boy, man, he realized, wasn't at the very least hiding from him.

"Expelliarmus!" said Albus, as Gellert's wand flew out of his grasp and into the other man's hand.

Gellert now stood there, frozen, and somewhat furious with himself for not having noticed Albus had woken up and was now sitting up in bed lighting the lamp on the bedside table, all the while keeping his eyes and wand pointed at him. Still, he couldn't be sure Albus had known it was him when he disarmed what could really have been any intruder.

As if reading his thoughts, Albus said dryly, "I thought it was you."

Gellert remained mute, still shocked and at a loss for what to say. Albus, however, was well beyond shock.

"Was there something unclear in my message? Something that left room for interpretation? That led you to somehow bloody believe you had any sort of right to make your way into my bedroom in the middle of the night?"

Gellert tried to form sounds with his mouth, realizing with horror that he was, for what seemed the very first time in his life, speechless. Albus' face was in a grimace, trying to convey as much anger as he could muster, yet Gellert could see only pain, the other's light blue eyes giving him away.

"Well?!" Barked Albus again.

Gellert gulped and made his decision. Slowly, with his hands up in a gesture of surrender, he knelt both knees on the ground.

"Wh-what are you doing?" Asked Albus, actual confusion making him forget how furious he wanted to be, if only for a moment.

"I am not here to hurt you, Albus," said Gellert, his slight accent making Albus' heart ache with a longing he no longer even knew he had.

Softly, Gellert continued, "I know you must hate me, and I-"

"You're right!" Yelled Albus, "I do, so why the hell are you here?!"

Inhaling deeply, Gellert decided the truth was his best option, "I-I just wanted to see you. That's all." The words came out awkwardly, much more awkwardly than he'd intended - only Albus ever had this effect on him and it made him feel like a stupid child every single time.

Albus lowered his wand for the first time since he'd disarmed the blonde boy, "Well I don't want to see you, Gellert," he said almost inaudibly.

"I don't believe you."

At this, Albus set his jaw and stood up out of the bed. Raising his wand again and pointing it at the other boy, he walked toward where Gellert was still kneeling. "Why on Earth would I want to see you? Perhaps you'd like to kill the rest of my family?" He attempted to say this last part with as much venom in his voice as he could muster, but even he had to admit it came out far more lamely than he'd hoped. Still, a part of him could never trust the man before him.

"I'm not going to defend myself Albus," said Gellert after a long pause, "All I will say is that I am so sorry for your loss and your pain and for whatever part I played in bringing you both of those things."

Albus' wand hand was shaking now, hot tears stinging his eyes, and before he knew it he was kneeling in front of Gellert, his wand hanging loosely in his hand, and in between audible sobs he was screaming over and over, "I WANT TO HATE YOU! I SHOULD HATE YOU! YOU RUINED EVERYTHING!"

It was a while before Albus quieted down, realizing only suddenly that Gellert was holding him in his arms, his head resting on his shoulder. "I love you," whispered Gellert into his ear.

Albus felt his body trembling softly from his quiet sobbing. "Y-y-you only love yourself," he managed weakly, without much malice.

Gellert gave a soft chuckle, though Albus thought he heard a slight tremor in his voice when he said in a quiet voice, "Normally you'd be right, Albus...when we first met, had you said that to me, you would've been right."

They stayed like that for what felt like an eternity, Gellert holding Albus in his arms as they both knelt on the floor. Eventually, in what felt like a daze, Albus slowly lifted his head from Gellert's shoulder and motioned for them to stand up together. Their wands lay discarded next to them on the floor. As they got up, Albus removed his tunic, leaving him bare-chested in his drawers. Gellert inhaled softly at the sight.

"I've missed you," he said.

Abus looked into his eyes and kissed him gently, their lips barely fluttering over one another. "I've missed you too," he whispered, "but this will be the last time I ever see you like this. I do not trust you, Gellert Grindelwald."

There was no anger in his words anymore, it was simply a fact, a necessity for Albus to say, and Gellert felt the quiet determination behind them. Still, the words stung him.

"Then can we...simply be, for tonight?" Asked Gellert.

Albus simply looked into his eyes again and his fingers rose to undo the knot in the front of Gellert's tunic. He motioned for the pale boy to raise his arms and Albus pulled the shirt above his head. He felt tears in his eyes again, but had no time to dwell on them before Gellert's lips were on his again, this time with a greater hunger, longing, than he'd ever felt from them before.

Pushing himself away gently, Albus grabbed Gellert's hand and guided him towards the small bed. As they stood next to it, Albus felt Gellert's hands at his waistband and they kissed again, with Albus barely registering what happened between them until they woke up intertwined in eachother's arms.

...

There was a weak light outside, the grey sky of dawn only just visible. Gellert was still asleep, his breathing quiet and gentle. Albus loved the way Gellert slept, how his hair always got everywhere and he always seemed to wake up slightly disoriented. Looking at the face he loved and knew so well, he didn't know whether to cry or kiss him again. Gellert made that decision for him as Albus felt a small pressure from the other's hands on the small of his back, drawing him closer.

Albus laughed, "how long have you been awake?"

His eyes still closed, Gellert smiled and said, "long enough to know you're watching me."

"Guess we're even now," teased Albus gently.

Before he knew it, Gellert was on top of him and kissing him again. They stayed that way for some time, exploring and basking in one another, eventually pulling away to catch their breath and lazily fall asleep again.

This time, when he awoke, Albus was surprised to see Gellert standing by the small desk with his back turned to him, almost fully dressed. He gulped slightly, suddenly keenly aware of his own lack of clothing.

"Are you leaving?" He asked thickly.

Albus saw Gellert's shoulders tense, if only for a moment, and he almost ran to hug him. "I have to," said Gellert, his back still to Albus, the pain in his voice clear, "it's what you want, isn't it?"

Albus felt a tear crawl down his cheek. "I don't want this, Gellert," he said as he distracted himself with the tangled sheets, "but I think...well I just think I have no choice."

Gellert nodded, his back still turned toward him.

"Gellert look at me, please."

His slender figure remained frozen, the soft shaking of his shoulders the only indication that he had even heard Albus. Sighing softly, Albus pulled on his discarded clothes and walked toward him, hugging him gently from behind. Gellert kissed his hand and Albus felt the wetness from his lips. So it was, the two boys, the two men, they stood there and cried together.

Slowly, their sobs turned into silence and their tears once again dried.

"Albus," said Gellert quietly, "I want to ask you something."

"What is it?" Asked Albus.

"Do you remember," he began, seemingly unsure of his words, "do you remember when you asked me about...well...the pact."

Albus froze against Gellert's back. He remembered of course, but that felt like a lifetime ago.

"What about it?" He asked, attempting to keep his voice neutral.

"Do you think," Gellert began, "do you think or well, do you feel the same? Still?"

Albus stood in silence for a long time. "Is that why you came here?" He breathed.

Gellert shook his head, "No."

That word carried with it the weight of the previous night, Albus knew. Also the weight of Ariana and Aberforth and everything they had ever once dreamed of together. Finally, it contained the weight of waking up, getting dressed, and realizing this was the last time they would...Albus breathed against Gellert, making up his mind.

"All right," he said, his voice stronger.

"Are you sure?" Gellert sounded both surprised and relieved, his heart fluttering in his chest.

"Turn around," said Albus, and he did, "Do you, Gellert Grindelwald, promise to never fight or pose yourself against me?"

Gellert kissed him softly and said, "I do."

Albus nodded and said, "now you."

Nervously, his voice wavering slightly, Gellert said, "Do you, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore," Albus rolled his eyes at the use of his full name and Gellert smiled softly, "promise to never fight or pose yourself against me?"

Now it was Albus' turn to kiss Gellert and say, "I do."

Kneeling down, Gellert picked up their wands from the floor and handed his to Albus, while he kept Albus'. Looking into one another's eyes, they carefully used their wands to open up a thin cut in the middle of the palm of their right hands, grunting softly as they felt the magic begin to work. Then, they both lifted their palms and closed the wounds over one another. They closed their eyes and saw through their pupils the dancing lights of the blood pact being forged. When they opened them, floating just in between their faces was a small silver vial containing two drops of blood that circled one another.

They looked deeply into each other's eyes and Gellert mouthed, I love you.

Albus nodded and repeated the gesture, the vial still floating between them. "You take it," said Albus, "I d-don't trust myself with it."

"I'm not sure I trust myself either..."

"That's all right," said Albus, "I'll trust you for the both of us."

Gellert smiled weakly, slowly reaching up to grab the vial. As he did, Albus surprised him by reaching out for it with his own hand. Gellert looked at him quizzically.

"There's nothing left to say Gellert...I just, this is hard enough," he said sadly, lamely, "please...go."

Gellert looked at him as if he had just cursed him from behind and Albus' heart felt heavy, literally aching with longing and repressed desire. But he knew that if Gellert didn't leave now he would not have the strength to ask him to do it again.

Eventually, Albus pressed the vial into Gellert's hand and nodded, slowly turning his back to him.Gellert closed his palm around the small piece of glass and metal, setting his jaw and taking in the last view of Albus Dumbledore he would have for a very long time.

With the sound of a loud crack, Albus knew he was gone and for the second time in as many days, the tears over Gellert Grindelwald's absence came.


End file.
